Just watched Ari Melber do a recap about Chuck Schumer’s whole new attitude to Republican obstructionism, and transcribed the clip but I hope everyone will enjoy it. (Sorry I cannot link to the video clip.
Ari Melber, Feb 1 2021
Melber: Many Democrats have been looking to a moment like this. They won those seats in Georgia, took those seats in the Senate, and demoted Mitch McConnell and they want to go big. Many progressives say it’s time for democrats to learn from the Obama experience that goes all the way back to 2009. And yes they want to welcome Republicans to their plans but they don’t want to change everything for nothing. This is a conversation you may have seen online, you may talk about it at dinner, but you don’t see this every day—a politician admitting, ‘hey maybe their critics were right.’ Because the top senate Democrat Chuck Schumer says that basically they’ve learned that too much republican outreach in the Obama era was a mistake, so listen to Schumer then and now:
Video clips:
Schumer 2009: The bottom line is we prefer a bipartisan approach
Schumer 2021: If we can’t move forward with them, we’ll have to do it on our own. Getting the job done in a big, bold way is the number 1 priority.
Schumer 2011: We can’t pass anything without a bipartisan agreement
Schumer 2021: We cannot make the mistake of 2009. On the ACA they spent a year or year and a half negotiating, and then didn’t come to any agreement.
Melber: (question to expert guest)…..Chuck Schumer doesn’t often talk about his mistakes…what does it tell you that he’s gone from basically trying to sound like the McCain Graham Golden Age era to, in 2021, he sounds like a dailykos blogger!
When I heard that, I laughed aloud and wanted to transcribe and share.